Michigan junior cornerback Courtney Avery continues to work for consistency while fighting for a starting job. AP photo

ANN ARBOR -- Courtney Avery's introduction to the 2012 season was a rough one.

Moments after sophomore starting cornerback Blake Countess went down with what would be a season-ending knee injury, Avery, a Michigan junior, found himself under the spotlight inside Cowboys Stadium against defending national champion Alabama.

And not in a good way, either.

"They picked on me a little bit," Avery admitted Tuesday. "I lost my footing on the one big play, and as a DB, you've got to have a short memory.

"I have to forget about that."

That one big play Avery is referring to was a 51-yard first-quarter touchdown pass from A.J. McCarron to DeAndrew White that couldn't have been more wide open, and couldn't have been more deflating for Michigan.

The score put the Wolverines down 14-0 less than eight minutes into the game, and quickly gave Michigan an idea of what life without Countess could be like if someone else couldn't step up.

Avery's first appearance this season was rough, but nothing he says he can't handle. He was forced into action as a freshman in 2010, and routinely struggled with big plays and a lack of confidence -- he's used to taking lumps, and he says he knows how to learn from them at this point.

"I've had to train myself," he said. "It's with experience, with more experience, you learn how to play the next play. My freshman year, I was pretty hard on myself.

"Last year I got a lot of experience, and more this year, and that short memory is something you have to learn to use."

Finding a way to achieve that short memory mentality isn't easy. Some players -- like Countess - have it as an instinct. Others, like Avery, have to consistently work at it.

Michigan senior safety Jordan Kovacs understands what it takes to work at it, and he says so far, he believes Avery has done an admirable job of letting bad memories remain in the past.

"It's just like a quarterback," Kovacs said. "You aren't going to make every play. And when you get burned on one? Oh well. Move on to the next one.

"That's just like a loss in football, if you take a loss, you can't dwell on it. You have to move on."

Avery continues to battle with sophomores Raymon Taylor and Delonte Hollowell, as well as freshman Terry Richardson, for the full-time job as Countess' replacement opposite starter J.T. Floyd.

And though Michigan's corner play hasn't always been pretty at times early this season, it's the hand the Wolverines' have been dealt -- and they say they're doing everything in their power to make it work.

"There’s two ways to approach (replacing Countess)," Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said. "Sometimes you have to do more to help a young guy. And then sometimes if you have a guy that’s got a lot of experience, you don’t have to do as much because he can get it done by himself.

"There’s that gray area in there where you have to be careful you don’t do too much, but you have to give them a chance."

Avery falls into the category of a guy with plenty of experience. He started five games as a freshman, three more as a sophomore and three more last season. He's made big plays, too. He returned a fumble 83 yards for a score against Minnesota last season, and made the game-clinching interception against Ohio State.

He's played a lot at nickel, and on the outside. But now, he has to take the next step to become a consistent defender.

And he knows it.

"(My freshman year) was a rough season," Avery said. "We knew we had a lot of improving to do, we knew we were young and that eventually we'd be older.